Well, what an exceedingly busy month March has proved to be!
Four significant consultations were released, and I had three already received to prepare initial briefings or responses for and to share with our members. See my Policy Update for details.
We are also in full conference planning mode for the Scotland (May 24th), Wales (July 12th) and UK national (October 5th and 6th) events. 2022 is definitely getting off to an exciting and active start and the year ahead looks fantastic for LARAC and for our members.
The big event in recent days has been the publication of Defra’s response to the last consultation on EPR. I started off on LinkedIn posting, personally, how disappointed I felt that business waste will not be included. Its inclusion was identified as being key to helping England achieve a 65% recycling rate by 2035. 1.4m tonnes or 41% of EPR packaging in residual waste was in business waste. Defra’s response cited a lack of robust data and an inability to find a satisfactory working solution for all stakeholders as the reason for its deferral. I just felt that dropping business waste was disappointing. But I have taken comfort from the words of Andrew Bird, LARAC national rep and who is on the ACP (Advisory Committee on Packaging) and EPR working groups, that we need to use the time to work out a solution that can have wide acceptance and make it the best system that we can. In the meantime, local councils will get on with delivering EPR Phase 1 for household packaging waste.
And we will get on and deliver because that’s what you are good at. When tasked with rolling out new collections systems there are none better than local council waste and recycling officers. Your passion and dedication will make it happen, as you have done so many times in the past for your residents. LARAC will be here to support you all the way with briefings, workshops and sharing best practice. Who knows – you may win a future LARAC award for what you will do shortly for EPR and consistency.
But whilst we get on with EPR Phase 1, we need to think about broadening the debate and start to talk about the forgotten elements of the strategy – waste reduction and reuse.
The focus on a 65% recycling rate has drowned out everything else. Whilst there are excellent projects and campaigns in your councils, we need to find a way to upscale them or their best ideas and get that message to the wider populace. We don’t need to explain recycling anymore, they’ve got that (well most of them!), but we do need to drive the debate on consumption and unnecessary waste.
Maybe we need to start the debate to get EPR on other items that are difficult to deal with as waste but could be reused, refurbished or repurposed to stay in use. Paint can be blended into new full tins and sold. Carpet can be resized or made into tiles. Mattresses are a huge problem because of their size and low weight. Whilst not reusable unless kept dry and clean, EPR could fund their disassembly and recycling of component parts.
So, if you’re at the Scotland, Wales or national conference, I look forward to meeting you and listening to your gripes, grumbles, wish lists and hopes.
